This is a picture of my mother and I...I don't have many pictures of the two of us together, which strikes me as a bit "odd". But then again, my family had a touch of the "odd", so I just accept it (and no cat calling about my mother's sexy legs either, MDMHVONPA!). LOLMy mother ALWAYS taught me to be responsible...so much so, I maintained my fair share of worry and angst growing up with her. SHE was a very responsible woman...worked her entire life (right up until the day she died...fixing breakfast for her family)...and was a fierce teacher about taking care of your own. My family would have been considered quite poor financially when I was growing up, but I was never aware of this fact until I went to school. In grade school and high school, other kids had dresses and jeans ordered from the Sears catalogue, while my mother sewed all of our garments...it was cheaper. My first store-bought dress was for my 8th grade graduation...times were good in 1978.
But enough nostalgia...
Today, I was listening to some blow-hard show of women from the Democrat and Republican parties on PBS...the show was playing in the background (like bad Muzak)...debating about whether or not the government (in the USA...clarification for you overseas readers!) should do more to subsidize daycare for families. And as I mindlessly listened to these women, who obviously have or are currently raising children, I realized I was feeling myself become more and more disgruntled on MOTHER'S DAY...more and more "pinched". So much so, I imagine the sound of my anus tightening could be heard in the next county! I became so irritated to the point I had to shut the BoobTube off and flip on some hardcore Pat Benatar, singing, "Hell Is For Children" and "Hit Me With Your Best Shot"!
OK...here is where I become wildly UNPOPULAR ON MOTHER'S DAY.
Let me first preface the following with my personal belief that we, as human beings, have become a rash on the butt of Mother Earth. We have procreated and inundated this planet with a population EXPLOSION running a close second race only with E. Coli and other prolific bacteria (you know? the one's we can't KILL?!? MRSA???). It is estimated that the current PLANET population is somewhere around 6.6 BILLION, breathing, eating, and crapping homo sapiens (not to be confused with homo sexuals...although, I "hear" this group is an ever-expanding populace with an "agenda". LMAO), and the United States has crammed over 300 MILLION of us bipedal primates (excluding the apes, of course!) between its borders and shores. And we, our arrogant "EWE-S-of-EH-ian" selves seem to think 300 MILLION is an OK amount of people to rape this tiny portion of land "we" inhabit...I mean, let's face it. We are NOT CHINA, who has 1.3 BILLION scrunched between its borders...that's ILLION with a "B"!!!
Our population, both in the United States and worldwide, has grown so out of control, we can no longer FEED 6.6 BILLION MOUTHS. Mother Earth only has so much soil available to grow our food upon...and we've contaminated the HELL out of what we DO have. The disparity between the so-called group of "HAVES & HAVE NOTS" has expanded its gap so wide, we can no longer even communicate with each other without having to shout across the great abyss that has formed between the two groups. Water is running scarce, children are starving to death, our air is barely breathable in some parts of the world, illness and war are at all time high levels of concentration, and...
And...And STILL, we continue to POPULATE. We continue to BREED like rabbits in the springtime. We continue to spread ourselves like an ever-inflamed and swollen RASH ON THE BUTT OF MOTHER EARTH. And frankly, I'm just waiting for dear ol' "momma earth" to apply the heavy ointment and rid herself of the 6.6 billion itch (that's illion with the "B" and itch without it")!
But what does my rant, subsidizing daycare in the USA, and Mother's Day all have in common? Not much, I suppose. LOL Except, I have grown weary of paying skyrocketing property taxes, sales taxes, federal taxes, and income taxes to support OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN. I didn't BREED. I don't have children. Not one of the 6.6 BILLION on the face of this earth is mine! I kept my legs closed (oh hush now, you naysayers!...there WERE offers!), educated myself, and made an informed decision NOT to bear children...for MANY reasons (but probably the biggest being the possibility of birthing something like the movie, "Humanoids From The Deep" ...my gene pool should have been drained a long time ago).
Yes, it's true. I DID take advantage of Public School...all twelve years of it. And I DID earn scholarships and grants to go to college, using the uppity "white man's welfare" (PELL Grants, etc.). And I DO drive on public roads, use public parks, drinking water, etc. I HAVE paid for these luxuries and I CONTINUE to pay for them. But I'm just having a hard time swallowing having to pay for OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN...other people's child daycare...because THEY chose to squirt the little spawn out! "If you can't raise the berry, don't pop the cherry" is what my nasty, old aunt taught me (who had 2 kids of her own). Sorry...channeling my Aunt June!
Personally, I think I should get a government KICK BACK...you know, a tax incentive for NOT HAVING CHILDREN. Pay me not to breed...never mind the fact it's probably virtually IMPOSSIBLE for me to bake a bun in my oven at 43...I had a good 30 years BEFORE now that I think I'm owed back taxes on! Pay others not to procreate...I think THIS idea would catch on better than sex education in our schools! Could you imagine how many potential teenage mothers and fathers "might" make other choices if they got PAID not to produce offspring?!? Yeah, you're right...sigh. Sex rules, and probably what would increase would be the rate of teenage abortions...something ELSE I'd have to subsidize through my taxes.
AWRIGHT...I've gone on long enough here and made more possibility for hate email to occur. Simmer down now...I'm kidding...sort of. LOL But I'm NOT joking about feeling angry at our government(s) for trying to put a dollar band aid on a problem when we've KNOWN this problem was occurring and CONTINUES to expand in our country. Subsidizing daycare in this country will NOT be an end-all to the financial burden facing families and particularly WOMEN who have children in the USA. It will NOT relieve a mother of the daunting task of trying to FEED the little mouth staring up at her. It will NOT make it easier for teens to stop having babies before they've outgrown their OWN childhoods. And it certainly will NOT increase the dwindling supply of natural resources that is occurring because of our over-population, which is the ROOT of the problem.
But hey...HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY anyway...
9 comments:
I have to agree--there are too many people and we have damaged the Earth without respect for her--I am afraid we are heading toward a tipping point of no return...But Happy Mother's Day to everyone.
Wow. I leave you alone for a minute and look what happens!
In the interest of full disclosure, you know I've got two kids and one on the way. So, take any comments I make with that in mind. :)
It's difficult not to over-simplify in a comment on a blog, so I'll just cut to the chase. I think that if we ever get to the point that China and India are at, incentives for not having children makes sense. Anything beyond that smacks of eugenics and I have a visceral response against it.
Regarding the primary point you're making about subsidizing child care, my position on this is that we have to make a decision about kids... as a society. How are we going to proceed? Do we wash our hands of any responsibility for them and blame the parents for lapses? Or do we move toward investing in kids hoping to see a return in our old age? Rights and responsibilities of the parents or of the group?
We have this funny problem in America. We "value" and "protect" the rights of the parent. Our schools are very, very careful to avoid impinging into the area of raising kids beyond education (with the exception of sex education and the occasional anti-drug program). We do this to the point that we have no backup plan, no mechanism for filling the gaps when kids don't have the benefit of at least one competent parent. The system works well in a lot of cases, but when the parents drop the ball, no one's there to pick it up.
I'm all for paying whatever taxes are involved in programs like Running Start or subsidizing child care for mothers below a certain income level WHO ARE WORKING. My reasoning is that, for every child who breaks the cycle of poverty, we've helped society, and for every parent we've helped actually work, we're seeing the dividend by having one less family receiving GAU.
As seems to be the case with all big issues like this one, it's hard to say what's right. What chaps my hide, though, is that we tend to blame society for tragedies like Columbine (where middle class families are involved), but we laser the blame right onto impoverished mothers for having kids who drop out of schools.
I almost came to blows with someone about this very topic. I was (and still am) not interested in supporting other people's children. I have volunteered for a number of organizations that specifically target adults (literacy for example) and have given financially and with my time for many others.
I will continue to support PARENTS rather than their children. If they have better resources then they can become better parents.
S.
Shauna,
What an interesting illustration of how differently two people can look at the same issue. I have always felt just as strongly (well, maybe not quite... never wanted to come to blows! :D )about supporting the children and NOT the parents.
I'm certainly not arguing the point.
Once upon a time, waaaaaay back in the hippy-60s we were promoting zero population growth, 2 kids per couple. Didn't take. I will pay for the poor kids and poor parents; I will desire to raise up our society---however, irresponsibility is killing USA. Education is the way out. Religion plays a role AAACCmormonsOOOO! 'cuse me; AAAcatholicsCHOOO, sorry. Yet Americans fight gay marriage, gays who adopt the children of irresponsible or ignorant heterosexuals. Raise your own dang kids, don't call on your gay aunties and uncles to babysit either. People are destoying our planet and each other, why? Selfishishness. That's right I double ish it.
Well said BrainCheese.
I have no kids -- wanted them yes -- but not if I couldn't be married to "Mr. Right" and Not if I could not afford the money to raise my own kids. I turned 50 this year. And yes, I'm sad I haven't met Mr. Right, and sad I don't have kids -- I could have!-- but I DO NOT regret my decisions. I would rather be single and childless, than be married to a deadbeat, or settle by marrying someone I didn't truly love, or have kids with man that wasn't truly committed to having kids With ME!
I was once told in this world we have the "eaters" and the "feeders." It's the eaters who are doing more of the "breeding" in this world, and they expect the "Feeders" to help pay for all dem to eat.
I love kids, but I don't want to have to pay for someone else's kids. I like the idea of tax breaks for those who decide not to have kids. For a change, let's reward those who try to live their lives responsibly. Although, perhaps I protest too loudly because with my MS I find myself in need of public assistance ... never thought that would happen.
Steve,
It is interesting. We both have the kids' interests at heart, just tackle the problem differently. Cool.
S.
"... we, as human beings, have become a rash on the butt of Mother Earth."
I completely agree. I also know that mother earth (Gaia) will survive once she has rid herself of that rash using one of the multitude of means at her disposal.
This is also why the whole global warming / carbon footprint debate does not engage me. Yes, we are poisoning the planet. Yes, that is likely to mean that we will all die out. No, we are not the first dominant species to become extinct. Dinosaurs, anyone?
Back to the issue in question - I am not having kids. First because I have MS and don't have enough spoons for myself let alone kids. Second because there are already too many kids in the world - my step sister has four! :(
P.S. I copied my comment to my blog/livejournal and linked back to this post.
http://natalief.livejournal.com/967965.html
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